Opening a holiday apartment in Spain in 2026 is not "putting the flat on a platform". It is a small business with a licence, a national registration, a residents' association, its own tax treatment and an operation that repeats every two or three days. This guide walks through the process in the order it has to happen, with the paperwork that exists today and the numbers worth having before spending a euro.
An honest warning: the rules differ by region and by municipality, and in 2025 they changed a lot. What follows is the common structure; the detail for your town has to be confirmed at your town hall before you buy anything.
1. First of all: can you do it in that flat?
It is the question to answer first, because someone else answers it, not you.
- The municipality. Several cities cap or have suspended new tourist-use licences, and others restrict them by district or by floor. Ask the planning department whether tourist use is allowed at that specific address before going further.
- The residents' association. Since April 2025, Spain's horizontal-property law requires new tourist-use homes to be expressly approved by the owners' meeting with three fifths of the owners and of the ownership shares. Without that agreement in the minutes, the activity can be challenged even with a licence.
- The by-laws and the contract. If the flat is rented, the lease must expressly allow tourist sub-letting. If there is a mortgage or the home is subsidised housing, check the conditions: subsidised housing does not allow tourist use.
2. The three registrations that exist today
In 2026 a legal holiday apartment carries three different numbers. It helps to know what each one does.
The regional registration
Each region has its own, with its own name: HUT in Catalonia, VFT in Andalusia, VT in the Valencian Community, ETV in the Balearics, VUT in Madrid, VV in the Canaries. It is the licence or responsible declaration that authorises the activity, and it usually sets physical requirements: occupancy certificate, air conditioning or heating depending on the area, fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, complaint forms and an identification plate at the door. The regional number must appear in every listing.
The national rental registration number
Since 1 July 2025, listing a short-term rental on a platform also requires the number from the single rental register, obtained through the digital one-stop window via the Land Registry. It is requested per property, renewed every year, and platforms remove listings that do not carry it.
The guest register
Every tourist accommodation must report each guest's details to the Interior Ministry's SES.HOSPEDAJES platform within 24 hours of arrival. It is not optional and the penalties for non-compliance are high. Self check-in systems usually integrate it; if you check guests in by hand, it is one more task at every arrival.
3. Tax, without the detours
- Income tax. If you only hand over the flat, with cleaning at check-in and check-out, it is taxed as property income. If you offer hotel-type services during the stay (daily cleaning, mid-stay linen change, reception), it becomes business income.
- VAT. Tourist rental without hotel services is VAT-exempt. With hotel services, you invoice at 10%. The difference is what you do during the stay, not between guests.
- Tourist tax. It exists in Catalonia and the Balearics, with per-person-per-night rates that change every year and, in some cities, carry a municipal surcharge. You collect it from the guest and pay it in yourself; check the current rate before setting prices.
- Platforms report. Airbnb, Booking and the rest report your income to the tax authority. Counting on "they won't find out" stopped being an option years ago.
4. The numbers before buying the sofa
Do this sum with figures from your area, not from this guide, but do it before investing.
- Income. Average nightly rate × occupied nights per month. Look at listings comparable to your flat on your street, not the city average. Annual occupancy of 60 to 70% is a realistic target in established areas; the first year usually lands below that.
- Platform commission. Between 3% and 15% depending on the platform and the fee model you choose. On Booking, count on roughly 15%; on Airbnb, about 3% if the guest pays their share, or around 15% on the host-only fee model.
- Cleaning and laundry. The most underestimated cost. Each changeover is two to four hours of cleaning plus washing all the linen from the stay. If you outsource laundry, it is priced per kilo; a double bed with towels for two is several kilos per changeover. Get a real quote from a laundry in your area.
- Utilities and consumables. Electricity, water, gas, internet, bathroom amenities, paper, coffee capsules. In a holiday apartment consumption per night is higher than in a home: the guests do not pay the bill.
- Insurance. You need public-liability cover for the tourist activity and a contents policy. Ordinary home insurance does not cover paying guests.
- Replacement reserve. Five to ten percent of income to replace what breaks, stains or walks off. It is an expense, not a surprise.
5. Equipping the flat: what shows and what gets washed
The minimum equipment list is set by regional rules and the platforms complete it with what guests expect: wifi, full kitchen, washing machine, iron, hairdryer. On top of that, two pieces of advice that come from experience rather than the list.
Buy for the laundry, not for the photo. Everything washed every two days has to survive hundreds of washes: sheets, pillowcases, towels, protectors. Household textiles lose shape and whiteness within a season; hospitality textiles are made for industrial washing and their sheet states thread count, weight and wash temperature. That is why the professional quantities are five sets per bed and five towels per bed space: three in rotation and two in reserve for the day the laundry runs late.
Buy for the person who cleans. Fitted sheets rather than flat, pillowcases with two openings, washable bedspreads, waterproof protectors on every bed. Every minute saved by the person doing the changeover is multiplied by every changeover of the year. The piece-by-piece textile checklist lists what is needed per bedroom and per bathroom.
6. Operations: what happens every two days
Before opening, write down the full guest-changeover process and time it: departure, damage check, linen removal, cleaning, fresh bed, amenities restocked, meter reading if needed, final photo. Whoever does it has to be able to follow it without you. Three decisions come out of that list:
- Own or outsourced laundry. With a single apartment, the flat's washing machine is usually enough if you have five sets per bed; with two or more, per-kilo outsourced laundry frees the hours that cost the most, yours.
- Access. A smart lock with per-booking codes. It removes key handovers, the first source of stress for a new host.
- Who answers the guest. An unanswered message at eleven at night is a bad review. If you will not be able to respond, hire someone or a manager from the start.
7. A realistic timeline
- Weeks 1 to 3: planning enquiry, residents' agreement, lease or mortgage review, insurance.
- Weeks 3 to 8: regional registration and national number applications, adapting the flat to requirements (plate, extinguisher, certificate), SES.HOSPEDAJES registration.
- Weeks 6 to 10: equipment and textiles, photography, listing copy, pricing and house rules.
- Weeks 10 to 12: first bookings, changeover process adjustment, cleaning or laundry contract.
Twelve weeks is usual when everything goes well; the regional licence sets the pace, and in some regions it takes months. Do not buy the textiles or sign with the cleaner until you are sure the flat can open.
What separates an apartment that works from one that wears you out
It is not the decoration. It is that the operation can repeat three hundred times a year without breaking: enough linen, a written process, someone who answers, and numbers that close at normal occupancy, not August's. If that is solved before the first booking, the rest is learned along the way.